Item Tag: a7402

the JNR class c50 steam locomotive was a 2-6-0 type engine designed as a successor to the class 8620, the first japanese steam locomotive domestically designed and produced………..the 2-6-0 configuration was copied from the 8620; 154 c50s were constructed between 1929 and 1933 by the pantheons of the JNR fabrication partners – hitachi, kawasaki, nippon sharyo, and mitsubishi; the c50-66 was produced in the mitsubishi shipyard facility……top operating speed was 95 kph, and the design had good towing power for its designated service on secondary passenger freight routes……however, the c50 proved subject to derailment because of its simplified driving wheel structure and its position in JNR’s steam locomotive array was soon usurped in the mid 1930s by the newly developed c58…… Micro Ace is one of the dominant triumvirate of n scale manufactures in Japan – Kato and Tomix both being better known outside of Japan….Micro Ace clearly markets the broadest line of locomotives among the 3 and arguably features the finest detail work on their product………… i acquired this c50 from a large reseller in japan who often eschews any evaluation of model railroad items…….upon arrival, the c50 displayed an unblemished shell with some usage evident on the wheel sets……after cleaning the aforementioned with mineral spirits, i proceeded with a test run which revealed , after i made an adjustment to the leading truck to bring its width to n scale specification, the c50 performing smoothly and consistently at 27% on the rheostat for n scale operating speed……the light – locomotive end only, tender end is a dummy – was a comparatively vibrant orange considering the pre chip led technology…….the wheel sets are now cleaner although not pristine……the jewel storage case is free of blemish…… the only accessory for the model is a rapido coupler for the front end, whose installation protocol will have to intuited, as microace provides only a rudimentary sketch…..